1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a control device of a vehicle and to a control method of a vehicle. More particularly, the invention relates to a control device of a vehicle equipped with an engine startup starter that is capable of controlling individually an actuator for moving a pinion gear up to a position at which the pinion gear engages a ring gear that is connected to a crankshaft of an engine, and a motor for causing the pinion gear to rotate, and relates also to a control method of the vehicle.
2. Description of Related Art
With a view to reducing fuel consumption and exhaust emissions, automobiles having an internal combustion engine or the like as a engine are in some instances equipped with, for example, an idling stop system (start-stop system) that automatically stops the engine in a state where the vehicle is stopped and the driver has operated the brake pedal, and that triggers automatic restart according to a renewed drive-off operation by the driver where, for example, the operation amount of the brake pedal drops to zero.
Conventional starters include starters used for starting an engine and capable of individually driving an engagement mechanism (actuator) for displacing a pinion gear of the starter to a position at which the pinion gear engages a ring gear of the engine, and a motor for causing the pinion gear to rotate. Further, upon engine startup, a scheme in which the engine is cranked by the motor after engagement of the pinion gear and the ring gear is employed in some instances.
WO 2012/008048 discloses features relating to a vehicle in which an engine is started through the use of a starter that is capable of controlling individually an actuator and a motor such as those described above. Specifically, WO 2012/008048 discloses a control scheme wherein the period that elapses until the motor is driven, after determination of engine startup, is set to be substantially constant, both in an instance where rotation of the pinion gear precedes engagement of the latter, and an instance where engagement of the pinion gear precedes rotation of the latter.
In the configuration disclosed in WO 2012/008048, the motor is driven after a predefined time established beforehand has elapsed since initiation of the actuator operation, in a case where the pinion gear is rotated by the motor after the pinion gear engages with the ring gear by the actuator. The durability of the gears may be impaired, due to shock upon meshing, when the motor is driven in a state of unreliable meshing between the pinion gear and the ring gear. In order to mitigate shock at the time of meshing, therefore, the abovementioned predefined time is ordinarily set to a sufficient time that enables reliable meshing between the pinion gear and the ring gear.
In some instances, however, the engine must be started quickly, for instance upon drive-off when a traffic light at an intersection changes over to green immediately after an engine stop command had been outputted as the vehicle came to a stop at a red light. In a case where quick engine startup is required, it is thus desirable to shorten the time that elapses from the start of the actuator operation until start of the motor operation. Herein, WO 2012/008048 does not give due consideration to such a case, and a constant time is set throughout. The demands of the user may in some instances fail to be met.